Overdue Report

12/8/12
My wife and I just recently moved to Ocean View, right on the water. We purchased a home knowing we wanted to raise it but we were waiting for FEMA to put us on the list. In the mean time Hurricane Sandy hit, and the max flood happened during the highest day of storm surge forcing my home underwater. I have been blessed with many people including fellow kayak fisherman Jason B and Lee Williams. Jason allowed me to borrow a dehumidifier and air filter while Lee came over and helped me rip out all of my carpet and drywall. This community continues to impress me from its work in Heros on the Water (HOW) to reaching out and helping an individual in need. I got messages from fishermen I had never met in person, who were willing to help in any way. Needless to say I am impressed with the character of those around the sport.



After a few weeks off the water I needed to bend my rods. I would be out of town the following week so I had to make this week count and wouldn’t you know it a noreaster blew in with cold temps, howling wind and heavy rain. I decided to head to the Elizabeth River and make the best of a bad situation. I fished the main river and found plenty of Speckled Trout up to 21”.



After my trip I was eager to get out for Tautog but the winds would not cooperate. Every weekend was a carbon copy of the last, windy. Finally the wind was forecasted to slack and I went out with Kayak Kevin (KayakKevin.com), Lee Williams, and Rob Choi (Angling-Addict.com). We planned to make a long drift and catch some of these Striper that are making their way down the bay. It took a while but we finally got on some fish. These two were 42” and 41” and were caught on eels free lined.

42”


41”

TKAA Tourney Report

10/20/12
The day before the tourney I went out for Sheep and they were on fire. I caught a 23 and a 23 1/2, ran out of bait in three hours. The second a 23" jumped from my arms as Rob Choi was taking my pics, she fell on the edge of the kayak but I couldnt get a good hold of her. I then tried to toss the sheep in Robs yak but she hit him in the arm and swam back to the depths!. I wasnt all that mad (surprisingly), I have plenty of sheep pics, I do it for the thrill of the fight.



The next day was the tourney.


I caught an 18" trout to start the day, and Allie got a 17 right after. The wind kept blowing and Allie went in after four hours. I kept it up and ended with a 20" on a mirror.




Mine was just under size to place but Allie won 4th in the Womens Div! I am so proud of her!

Virginia Beach Boondoggle

10/6/12
The week of boondoggle I knew I had to get on some fish. I have to leave for a week for the Marines so I had to make every trip count. The winds were favorable so I went to my favorite spot, the CBBT. The first day I go for Sheep and Tog. I drop and before I get set next to the pilings I am being bit, I rear back and hang into a solid fish. After a quick fish I leg a smallish sheep into the boat.



I keep fishing and I set the hook and I think its another sheep but it begins to run out instead of down. I kick away from the piling and Kevin says "its a drum!". I bear down on him tightening my drag, I see some color and know its a Black Drum, I feel a surge of adrenalin because that would be my 5th specie citation of the year. I get it close and leg it in. I knew it was short but was happy to share the terrific fight on fairly light tackle. The measurement came in at 37", 9 inches short of citation.



I continue thinking the tog bite may be hot but I ended with just one after a long paddle.


The next day I had Honey Do's, I had to build a hand rail to appease my home owners insurance. Lee came over and we knocked it out, finished painting a wall then hit the next slack with plans for sheep.


My first piling I begin feeling the familiar grinding and double thump of a sheepshead bite. After losing several fiddlers I get a good hookset and feel the power of an adult sheep fighting for every inch of water. I leg her in and snap a couple photos. We showed Ocean Kayak team member Jean McElroy what a real sheepshead looks like. The day wears on and we decided to call it a day.



The next day was the Boondoggle kiddy rod tourney. I begin by cathing a small red on a mirror. Allie hooks into a nice ribbon fish and because its longest fish has a real shot at winning. I drop some fiddlers and find a baby Sheepshead, my 5th in 8 days. I then catch slot red and decided with the wind blowing it was time to go in.






I had a great time meeting everyone involved with the Boondoggle, I hope they can come back soon!

Playing hooky

9/24/12
This Friday I was supposed to be at work, but that wasn't what was on my mind. I kept thinking of the fish that Rob Choi, Justin Mayer, William Ragulsky, and Seth Goodrich caught the week before. The weather was looking good so Lee and Damien had decided to make a trip off shore for some big Red Drum.

I was late in making my decision and at the last minute I decided to make the run and catch up with the guys. I paddled out even though I couldn't see them, hoping they were out somewhere over the horizon and finally I see them waving their paddles at me in between the rolling sets of swells. I find out the Damian was already on the board after just a few minutes and he had to take off to get back to work haha. Lee and I set up shop for hours and picked through shark after shark. Losing expensive gear nearly each time. It got to the point where I look at lee and said "Are you ready" and he responds with "I feel as if we sat here for a million years we wouldn't catch one.". We decided to dump our bait and began to stow our gear for the rough beach landing to come. Just as I dump my bait my rod goes off but its not a typical fight, at first its just very heavy weight and I am thinking I got a Ray this time. But as it got closer to the kayak it began moving then taking line then a lot of line. I was using my Okuma Trio Spinning Reel with a Med Action Okuma Cedros Spinning Rod with only 30lb braid so I really couldn't horse him in. She came up and I told Lee yeah its a red. She made a couple long runs until Lee said my arms were shaking. I got her in the boat took a couple quick pics and got her in the water to ensure her health. Its vital to get these old fish back in the water as soon as you can or risk losing a true trophy. She swam off and without bait and the sun going down we called it a day.

Lee looks at me and said "You bottom of the Ninth me!" haha, I guess I did. Lee told me before that he puts people on drum and man was he right, I owe Lee a thanks for talking me out of work and onto fish!

Kayak Angler Mag Article and Photo

Check out this months Kayak Angler Magazine! Allie is featured on page 12 with her 27" Speckled Trout and my article is on page 29! We are both pretty excited to be in the mag!

http://www.kayakanglermag.com/kayakanglermag_fall12/

A day of firsts and a fourth

9/3/12
I went out this week looking for some fun. Kevin said he had a spot he wanted to try. We get to his spot just before low tide and its literally every cast we hook into 13-17 inch Reds. Many times the bait wouldn’t get to the bottom before hooking up. I was like a kid in a candy store. It was awesome seeing so many healthy young Reds.


While running through them I hooked into my 4th tagged fish of the year (Speck, Spade, Trigger, and now a Red). This one was a 13” Red who looked to be tagged for some time. I scratched off some of the algae and took my pic to report the catch. I left the tag in and let it swim back to his pals.



I was still itching to fish for tog / sheep so Kevin, Lee, and myself made it over to find a smorgasbord of fish. Kevin got just about everything under the sea. I hooked into a tog and baby Black Drum. Any one that knows me knows I am chasing 6 Virginia Trophy Citations (I have four of six) but this drum was about 37” short of my citation!




Here is a tournament worthy Flounder, yall better watch out.


After catching so many Reds I began thinking of getting Allie on her first. She is a teacher and cant fish with me during the week. So Before I went to work on Sunday I took her out to catch her first Red. At the very first stop she caught three to my one! Then we moved for bigger Reds and I caught what felt like a solid drum. It turned out to be a fat Croaker measuring 15”, with citation being 20”.



We headed back in with smiles on our faces and I told her to troll in. She did and caught her first speck on artificial. The Speck went 15” and after a few pics was released.


Over all we both had a great time on the water and she is more pumped than ever to fish the tournament!

Check out Kevins Report at http://www.KayakKevin.com

Tagged fish double header

Last week I was dying to get on the water and chase some deep water species but the wind wouldn’t allow it. I got an invite from Kevin (www.KayakKevin.com) and Lee to fish Rudee Inlet. First we went for Reds and Specks. I hooked up with two pups but both are rather small. Virginia had almost no drum last year, some say it was the harsh winter others disagree and say it goes in cycles. Everyone agrees that there were non to be had last year, so it always brings a smile to my face to catch one no matter the size.




We moved on and found some baby sheepshead and played with them for a while, I ended up with around ten and Kevin had 12 or so.

Don't be jealous of the stache...


Kevin says hi!


I recently moved and now have a launch in my backyard, I hadnt been out before so one morning before work I tried and found another pup willing to play.




The following week I still wanted to head out for Spadefish. Pound for pound some of the hardest fighting fish I have ever caught. I went out the first day with Rob Choi (www.angling-addict.com). We had a great time catching between 12-16 apiece. I even caught one Rob had tagged just days before.


Photo by Rob Choi


Photo by Rob Choi



The following day had favorable wind in the morning so Kevin, Lee and I made it out and caught more spades. It says something about how fun they are when we paddle a 6 mile round trip to catch these guys. I also got my second tagged fish in as many days, a 12 ¼” trigger fish which made my day. I took down the number to report it and released it. I called Rob and found out he had caught it close to where I was a month earlier. It really shows you how important it is to Catch Photo and Release (CPR) these fish, if Rob hadn’t I would not have caught them or enjoyed my day as much. Please take what you want but just because it’s a keeper doesn’t mean you have to.

1st day of summer

1st Day of summer came and I knew Id spend it on the water. Rob Choi had already caught a citation sheepshead and I wanted one bad. I couldn’t sleep the night before with all my nervous / anxious energy. It seems I always fish the best when I won’t be able to fish the next week and this time would be no different, I am set to leave the country for the next 7 days and needed to get this sheepshead! I began getting some solid bites after about an hour of fishing, finally I set and connected with something solid. I pushed away from the pilings and began the fight. After what seemed to be an eternity I got color and it was striped, vertical, a sheepshead! I legged her into the boat. I looked down to find a fat bloated sheepy ready to take some pics. I took a couple snaps and revived her. I never keep these guys because by the time they reach 24 inches they are close to 30 years old. That’s a long time, so I’d rather let em go to fight again.



My buddy Tripp hadn’t gotten one yet but just before changing locations I told him I was getting bitten. He reaches over my kayak and drops down next to my line but it was too late, I set the hook on my second Virginia Citation sheepshead of the day. After some pics she was released but came back to the surface. Tripp revived her for almost 10 minutes and she finally swam back to the depths.







The action slowed for everyone so not wanting to be greedy I switched to flounder fishing. I immediately hooked a 16”, on the next cast I hooked something a bit larger. Once I got color I knew it was a doormat. She went 22”. I took her to Rob (check out his artwork at Angling-Addict.com) to get a print of the beautiful flatty. I am looking forward to glancing at the fish on my wall and having the memories of that day flood back. I ended the day with that fish knowing it doesn’t get much better!






This makes my fourth species citations, 7th overall for 2012, 46” & 45” Stripers, 25” Speckled Trout, pair of 48” Reds, and now a pair of trophy Sheepsheads. Not a bad year….. so far.

Breaking in my Wilderness Systems Ride 135

This is another week leading up to a week off with the Marines so I had to make the best of it. I was watching the forecast and it looked beautiful for both my days off. I picked up my new Ride 135 the week before and had it rigged for sight casting so I was ready to slime her for the first time! I met up with Kevin late on the first day. The light was fading and we hadn’t found any fish. The Ride 135 was much more stable than I thought and made standing and casting an easy task. Kevin stopped to put on some sun screen and I began blind casting a Chug Bug. I told Kevin I was going to show him how they do it in Louisiana, jokingly. On the third cast I see the red explosion. It takes a moment for me to comprehend that the top water actually worked! I reel until the line is tight and looked at Kevin and said “hooked up”! He began paddling toward me and I began worrying it may be a ray but with a couple head shakes I said “it’s a red”. He began to film but just as he was getting to me his rod goes off and he says "Got one!! Ha ha ha!! I’ll see ya later!". We both fight our fish for a while, these 40 inch fish are real mean, and not slobs like the 46+ fish. I leg mine in and paddle to Kevin as he gets his in. We take some pics and after another thirty minutes we head in. Not bad for just over 3 hours of fishing.



The following day I took Allie out and we went on a long paddle, somewhere between 8-10 miles. On the way to the hunting grounds Kevin sees me pick up my rod and inquires, I said I thought I was on them. I cast as my Ride 135 begins drifting near and 4 or 5 fish spook. I begin reeling in the chug bug to cast at the spooked school and just before the bug gets to the boat a huge striper strikes and misses my bait. We looked but came up short with the bad cloud cover. We keep trekking to our spot and just as Kevin looks at Allie and I and says we should catch a red here his rod doubles over. After he lands that one we go looking for reds and after another mile I see a small splash. I cast and the chug bug gets hit 3 times but the fish was hitting it with its side. Kevin casts into the school and hooks up to a healthy 41”. Justin Mayer joins us and he catches a striper and something else after I leave.
On the way in Allie is still insisting she could stand with Kevin and I to sight cast to fish in the Tarpon 140. So finally I agree to let her try. I take her gear and to my surprise she stands up easily three times with out fear. Looks like Ill have an extra set of eyes next time we fish!


Kevin and Justin had a good couple days after, check out what else happened!